http://www.pmptoday.com/2009/02/22/umid-m1...48-inch-screen/ * 4.8-inch 1024 X 600 screen * Intel Atom Silverthorne * up to 1GB of RAM * WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 (optional 3G) * so small you can put it in your shirt pocket! * up to 32GB of storage * price between 600k won to 700k won or between $400 to $466 (wireless companies may offer this subsidized) * optional webcam and Digital (DMB) TV

looks good, yes, but battery life is the challenge. If there is an extended battery option this might be more of an option.Still not as sexy as my Zwhy is cutting edge technlology not as sexy looking as 4 year old tech?I'm getting annoyed waiting for the last 3 years for a Z killer.........still haven't found one....might have to settle for the pandora for now... 10h battery life predicted

I just ponied up and bought one. So I'll let you guys know what it's like when I get it.

Standby battery life, time to suspend / resume / hibernate and keyboard / touchscreen quality are my primary concerns with the device. Being spoiled by the Z's 'always on' capabilities, and great screen and thumbboard, it will be interesting how the UMID compares.

The one I bought has XP on it. I may try to load Linux if I can find a forum / site with some good headway on doing so. I think UMID may have their distro available for DL but I haven't checked yet. I'm sure people would want to see something like Ubuntu or Debian on the thing instead of whatever custom Linux OS UMID has cooked up.

definitely very very interested in hearing how it runs linux. I didn't even know you could buy them. Where did you buy it? Did you get one with the 3G option, I'd definitely want that*

I'd not be interested in keeping windows other than a stripped install purely to run firefox to download drivers etc to get linux going (which is what I do with any laptop I get).

* I just switched to Hutchison 3G ("Three") in the UK for my mobile service as I can buy a day's internet access (120MB limit for £0.50 i.e. about 85 cents) if I want, whereas my old service Virgin Mobile prices were rapacious for data charges!

sorry to bombard with questions, eager to hear good news. I'm bored with my nokia tablet now, without a keyboard it just doesn't have the utility of the Z.

definitely very very interested in hearing how it runs linux. I didn't even know you could buy them. Where did you buy it? Did you get one with the 3G option, I'd definitely want that*

I actually picked it up off of ebay, but I've heard people have been picking them up from gmarket. Interestingly enough, gmarket is like the Korea equivalent of eBay, insomuchas ebay is moving to purchase them. Unfortunately I don't believe the 3G option is available yet, they are estimating that to be later in the year AFAIK. I have a USB 3G Modem from work so for me this is not really a deal breaker. From what I've heard, the traces are there for all the hardware on the board but it's just not on it. PCI-E traces there but no connector, etc, etc.

QUOTE(speculatrix @ Apr 19 2009, 04:42 PM)

I'd not be interested in keeping windows other than a stripped install purely to run firefox to download drivers etc to get linux going (which is what I do with any laptop I get).

The version I purchased comes with XP loaded but it is my fear that it a shade tree version as the auction claimed 'No CD no COS'. Again, not a big deal as there's always Linux and I can reload XP if necessary. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm sure I'll have to repartition the HD and reinstall anyway, so I'll just test out some Linuxes / BSDs on there anyway. I'll keep you in the loop where I get.

QUOTE(speculatrix @ Apr 19 2009, 04:42 PM)

* I just switched to Hutchison 3G ("Three") in the UK for my mobile service as I can buy a day's internet access (120MB limit for £0.50 i.e. about 85 cents) if I want, whereas my old service Virgin Mobile prices were rapacious for data charges!

Well, 120MB goes quickly on 3G. I know I can burn through a gig or so in a day just doing casual saturday (sfw mind you!) surfing. Round here in the States I believe you can get unlimited data plans for around US $80 to $100 a month, at this cost it becomes more feasible as your only communication based service fee. If I didn't need to have a dedicated home internet connection, I would seriously consider getting a data plan and just using it anywhere I go.

QUOTE(speculatrix @ Apr 19 2009, 04:42 PM)

sorry to bombard with questions, eager to hear good news. I'm bored with my nokia tablet now, without a keyboard it just doesn't have the utility of the Z.

Paul

Agreed with the Nokia, and I have the 810! I'm about to unload it and a slew of other stuff. If the UMid works out as a decent portable desktop with nice battery life (one of my big gripes with the Everun Note I had), then I think I'll be ready to shed all my other niche gadgets.

But I'll always keep the Zaurus! It holds a place near and dear to my heart. : )

I had a look on gmarket but even when I selected english the auctions were still in hieroglyphics!

I see a whole slew of sellers from Asia on ebay now, so I am fighting the urge to click the BUY button. My wife would not be impressed if I spent all that money when she wants us to have a nice new *LCD TV instead!!!

Since I went ahead and purchased a black UMID from dynamism, I'll provide an initial answer to my own question.

Build is plastic, but fit and finish seem excellent. Some have complained about the angle of the screen in its further position and that the black one doesn't seem to improve much over the white one. Not having a white one I can't compare, but it seems acceptable for my use. Fits reasonably well in my pockets. With the leather case, it is a bit bulkier.

So far I've installed: mediawiki running locally, openoffice, vlc, mplayer, jedit, quasar media player (thanks katastrophe), kde pimpi, fbreader, truecrypt, easytag, homebank (gtk program I discovered from the Nokia). These are all cross-platform programs. I haven't installed ubuntu yet. I found some instructions that list all the drivers needed -- so it is on my list. This means I have to reacquaint myself with windows at the moment.

Did a quick test of vlc and mplayer without trying to tweak. A sample video I encoded with handbrake with the film setting defaults (which uses h.264) struggles a little bit, but could be watchable. When I get some time, I need to watch and see if it is acceptable.